MattChat

Online shopping...... buy, buy, buy. And...... return, return, return. It adds up to a heap of waste and an environmental nightmare. Recent studies of e-commerce suggest that lenient return policies correlate with more returns and an increase in purchases. As far back as 2010, Zappos.com, the pioneering shoe retailer, bragged that its best customers were the ones who returned the most products. The problem is that consumers are returning more and more every year. In 2018, Americans sent back 10% of their purchases, valued at $369 billion, according to data and software firm Appriss, up from 8% two years earlier. Younger shoppers in particular are more inclined to treat online purchases as rentals, or to buy clothing to try on, then return what doesn’t fit or look good. It’s a global trend: In Sweden, return rates are as high as 60% for some products. But the high cost of transporting, sorting, and repackaging those goods also ensures that billions of po

Illinois: Mayday Mayday

Sickening. Absolutely irresponsible. Why Illinois Is Closing in on 700 Days Without a Budget How does a state, led by a successful businessman as governor, a brilliant political strategist in the House, and a consummate dealmaker in the Senate, end up in this kind of political disorganization? Bad political errors led to bad political incentives, and as the problem worsened, so did the political risk of solutions—and what politicians had to ask of their constituents. If you've got any level of love/concern for the State of Illinois, you gotta read the full thing: http://www.chicagomag.com/city-life/May-2017/Why-Illinois-Is-Closing-In-On-700-Days-Without-a-Budget/ It's sickening. It's absolutely irresponsible. Out for now....... Matt

Picture 5/7: Anti-Mold

May 7 (picture 127 of 365) Have you ever seen one of these? An anti-mold chip. I hadn't seen one before. It came in a mail package containing our 8th grader's graduation outfit/shoes. Wonder what kind of funky chemicals are on this thing? Considering the "DO NOT EAT" warning, I'd suspect quite a few. If it'll prevent/kill mold, it'd probably do quite a work on all the microbes floating around the intestinal system. Out for now...... Matt

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